Stanley plane dating

I had been to the site that your link lead me to as well. It firmly places one plane as a type 19 if it were made in USA. The other I am not sure, using the oldtools. Since I posted the original question I have found some pieces of information. There is a possible date code on the iron, in this case '' that may indicate a 'second quarter of ' date of manufacture.

Stanley Plane type study

What throws me is the fact that there is no frog adjustment screw, but in the context of conserving materials during war time this may have been a common occurance. Stanley is stamped on the adjustment lever horizontally as opposed to vertically. There does not appear to be any nickle plating on the lever cap or paint in the rectangle surrounding "Stanley" either or at least any remaining. I have not put much effort into cleaning the questionable one yet. Thanks for you info though. Stanley plane dating I've found that the Canadian Stanley planes typically follow the U.

Stanley type studies fairly closely. Some suggest that many Canadian Stanley plane parts were made in the U. The most notable difference would typically be what's printed on top of the plane iron. Rob Brophy has a great little Web page showing Stanley Canadian blades and trademarks. Anyway, you seem knowledgeable so here's another decent site that may help you with your mystery plane.

Stanley plane dating Hi Glen, Thanks for the information. I had not found Rob Brophy's information, strangely enough I thought I had exhausted the Galoots site. The Rexmill site, I had found. It is an excellent site. Between it, Patrick Leach's site and this site - http: What I have come to realise or suspect is that there is no clear distinction between one type and the next as the company appears to be cycling old stock through new plane runs. With multiple production sites this cycling may take longer at some plants than others.

One of the planes is a type Although the plane iron has the Sweet Heart stamp, similar style to a type 12, supposedly discontinued with the type The other is somewhere between a type 18 and It has the vertical Stanley on the adjustment lever of the 19, but the diagonal knurling on a brass depth adjustment nut and rectangular plane iron of the So what have I learned in this? The older one is a paper weight as the sole has a crack and the newer one is a user. Stanley plane dating I have a made in Canada Sweetheart blade that has the number stamped on the back.

I asked on a few forums about it a couple of years back. People found it curious but no one had any information beyond the fact that the number stood for the third quarter of I would suggest that Stanley used the stamps on blades until the stamps wore out. Because Canadian production was smaller in volume, the stamps lasted longer. This is the first plane of the Bailey series, which Stanley made into the world's standard plane configuration after they bought the patent rights to the design from Leonard Bailey, who was making the planes in relative obscurity in Boston, Massachusetts during the 's.

Bailey had experimented with several designs, but finally settled upon a style that is still being manufactured, with minor modification, today. This plane was designed to smooth small areas and was found practical by many since it can be used with one hand, much like a block plane is. It never has a number cast on it, nor was it ever provided a lateral adjustment lever.

The plane always has a solid brass nut for the iron's depth adjustment; i. They are cute little planes that look sorta neat on a mantle, or on top of your TV, which is probably a better place for them than in your shop due to their value. Every serious collector of old tools wants one of these little monkeys, which makes the cost of owning one rather steep. This plane never was corrugated see 2C 's listing below.

Do not ever buy one that is. The Ohio Tool Company did make a corrugated version of this plane, but they ain't Stanley, which is the company of concern here. The plane has been reproduced and can fool the novice very easily. The quickest way to tell if it is a fake is by examining the threaded rod on which the depth adjustment nut the brass knob traverses.

An original has its rod perfectly parallel to the sole of the plane, whereas the reproduction has its tilted upward toward the tote.

How to Identify Stanley Hand Plane Age and Type (Type Study Tool)

The irons of some reproductions have the logo stamped on both sides, but this can't be relied upon as a foolproof identification of the plane's originality since there are a lot of unused legitimate 1 irons out there and it's very easy to switch the reproduction iron with an original one. The castings of the reproductions are coarser than on the originals, but unless you've seen an original, you really don't have any idea what the correct texture is.

A modern manufacturer makes a very nice copy of the plane, but it could never fool anyone as being original since his is made of the usual bronze alloy and the knob and tote are not rosewood. These planes are generally in very good, or better, condition since they were used very little. There are far too many of them out there to be considered salesman's samples or novelties as some people believe them to be. As proof that they were used, they do suffer damage, primarily about their mouth. The thinness, and consequent fragility, of the bottom casting makes this damage the most commonly found on these planes.

A cracked tote is another fairly common flaw found on these planes. There are guys making reproduction totes for these and other planes.

Be careful when you buy! Another form of damage I've noticed on them is one I can never understand how it ever happened in the first place. The screws used to secure the frog to the bottom casting actually poke through the sole! The cause of this is because the washers were not used along with the screws, which means that the sole had to be drilled in order for the screws to seat. This damage is very easy to recognize - flip the plane over and look for two screws staring back at you. You'll cringe in horror the first time you ever see it. The screws used to secure the frog to the base have round heads, and not flat ones the earliest larger bench planes had round heads, but later were changed to flat ones.

Also, the frog, and its mating to the bottom, only underwent one redesign during its production, which is far less than the redesigns the larger bench planes had done to them. The earliest models have an I-shaped, or H-shaped depending upon how it's viewed receiving area for the frog. Subsequent models have the broad and flat receiving area. Strangely, more than a few of these planes are missing their knobs. Maybe it's because junior stole them to play marbles, or something like that. The knobs of the 98 and 99 are a close match and a source for replacements.

Another plane to smooth small areas. A smooth plane, according to some Stanley propaganda " is used for finishing or smoothing off flat surfaces. Where uneven spots are of slight area, its short length will permit it to locate these irregularities, leaving the work with a smooth surface when finished. While the 2 is certainly scarce when compared to the larger bench planes , proving that its use was rather limited, it nevertheless is a useful tool for when one is faced with some isolated stubborn grain or smoothing smaller pieces of work.

Its small size permits it to work smaller areas more effectively than the larger and more common 4. It's very difficult to close your hand around the tote on this one, unless you have small hands. Be very careful that the lever cap is proper for this plane - it's very easy to grind a 3 lever cap narrower to fit this plane. Look at the sides of the lever cap, when it's clamped in place - a ground 3 lever cap will have its sides projecting well above the highest point on each of the bottom casting's arched sides.

Give the machining along the edges of the lever cap a close inspection to verify that it's a proper 2 lever cap. A common area of damage on the 2 's is at the very rear of the sole, or heel of the plane, where the threaded rod used to secure the tote to the bottom casting is received by a raised boss in the bottom casting.

On some models of the plane, this area is not flush with the sole proper there are some models that have this area flush with the sole , and sometimes can break. Inspect it carefully for repairs. Sometimes, the threaded rod will be tapped through the sole. This damage is clearly visible by flipping the plane over and looking at the sole. Similar damage can be found on the larger bench planes. This plane never came equipped with the frog adjusting screw that was offered on the larger bench planes, nor did it experience the changes in the frog's receiver, save for the first H-shaped to the second broad machined area designs see the 3 for an explanation and images of the changes in the frog's receiver.

And for those of you who follow the type studies religiously keep in mind that Stanley never knew about the type studies when they were making their stuff , this plane doesn't follow the study very well. It seems as if the Stanley employees, given the task of making 2 's, were off in their happy, little 2 -land, oblivious to the changes made to the plane's larger brothers. No model of the 2 has the patent date s cast into it, behind the frog. The brass depth adjustment nut used on this plane is different from all the others.

On most of the examples excluding the very earliest ones, with their solid nuts , the nut is very slightly hollow concave and is noticeably shallower than those nuts used on the larger bench planes. Check that the nut hasn't been replaced with one off a larger plane. Examples of this plane usually have "BAILEY" cast at their toe, but they don't always, so have a tape measure handy to see if it measures 8" long. They also have the larger brass depth adjustment nut like those used on the larger bench planes.

The cutter is not rounded at the top, but is angled as it was from the day it was first made. Most of these planes are japanned with the typical black paint, but the very last ones to leave New Britain are instead japanned blue. The "C" designation means that the sole has a series of parallel grooves machined into it. There is no "C" cast into this plane, nor any other of the corrugated bench planes.

The corrugations are provided to overcome the 'friction' that results between the wood and the sole as the wood becomes true; a small vacuum forms between the two surfaces. Whether this 'friction' becomes a bother to the craftsman depends upon the species of wood being planed and the overall strength or endurance of the dude pushing the plane. I've never really been bothered by the 'friction', but it appears that many others have, judging by the number of corrugated planes out there and the length of time that they were offered.

Some also claim that the corrugations are useful on resinous woods - maybe you will, too. Prior to the introduction of corrugations, guys would use wax or oil on the plane's sole. This was normally used on the longer planes, where the amount of 'friction' is certainly greater than that formed on the shorter planes. But for a plane this small, corrugations are rather overkill.

Stanley plane dating

It was never a popular feature of this particular plane, thus its scarcity. In fact, I have seen fewer 2C 's than I have 1 's.

Perhaps I need to ask more 2 's if they mind if I check their bottoms? I've seen some very crude appearing corrugations on many of the bench planes. Some of the planes date prior to Stanley's production of them. Whether the planes were corrugated in an attempt to deceive collectors, or whether the planes were corrugated by the owner for his own use is impossible to tell.

I suspect the reason is true in both cases. Original corrugations run lengthwise to the sole and are perfectly parallel to each other, stop before the toe, the heel, and before and behind the mouth. The corrugations are about as deep as they are wide, have a crisp definition to them, and terminate in a pointed fashion. The corrugations often become filled with workshop schmutz. You can remove it by taking the pointed end of a common nail and scraping it out.

I once was invited over to a woodworker's shop to look at some tools that he wanted to sell. The fellow didn't have much, just a few newer tools from that tool company in England that is still making pitiful copies of Stanley's bench planes. However, the fellow did have several original Stanleys with soles the likes of which I've never seen before or since.

Each sole had a series of 1" wide roughly cutouts, dados, if you will, that spanned the width of the sole spread along the length of the sole. In other words, the cutouts were parallel to the mouth! Amazed by what laid before my eyes, I asked the fellow what caused or what was the reason for this strange treatment. He told me that he had taken the planes to a local machinist and asked him to cut some corrugations into the soles since he had heard that corrugations help to make the plane perform better.

For the first time in my life, I was left speechless, and could only muster an "Oh, I see" as an answer. The planes have since left his shop, so you folks out in western Massachusetts be careful out there while tool sleuthing. If you ever see one, and unknowingly buy it, I suppose you could always flip it over and use it as a boot scraper, or something like that. A very common smoothing plane, which some prefer over the larger 4. As in all the metal bench planes, check that the bottom casting or bed isn't cracked anywhere - more often than not, the cracks appear on the arched sides or around the mouth.

The mouth proper is also prone to chipping. Now and then you might stumble across a bench plane that has some cosmetic surgery, where the entire forward of the mouth portion of the main casting was broken off and subsequently welded back onto the rest of the plane. Run, don't walk, away from these examples, unless you're snarfing parts.

What Hand Plane Should I chose for Woodworking Use Stanley Bailey Handplane Numbers

Stay away from those planes that exhibit tool leprosy, pitting. A few minor pits on the sides isn't going to hurt the plane's use, but badly pitted examples are generally a lost cause. Make sure the frog isn't broken - curiously, many of them have their frogs snapped off at their tops where the lateral adjustment lever is supposed to be the earliest models, pre, never had a lateral adjustment lever.

I've also seen a frog that had the 'web' of cast iron between the two frog screws snapped off. This is rare damage, but it just goes to show you that these planes can be damaged anywhere and it's just good practice to examine them thoroughly before you buy. Some planes are missing their lateral adjustment lever. It's attached to the top of the frog with a small, peened over pin. Through hard use, the pin can wear out, detaching the lever from the frog. If the hole is not present, the plane is an earlier model that dates prior to the introduction of the lateral lever which made its debut in the first lateral has a bent up edge that engages the cap iron, while the later style, first introduced in , has a circular disk to engage the cap iron.

Don't retrofit your plane with a lever, if it never had one. Sell it to a collector, then take the proceeds and buy a model that is equipped with the lever. Most of the models have rosewood for the knob and tote WWII years, and from the mid's on, had stained hardwood. In what has to be an error, the catalogue states that cocobolo was used for the totes and knobs on all the bench planes, except for the 1 , 1C , 2 , and 2C. I have never seen a Stanley bench plane with cocobolo used, and the mention of a fictitious 1C offers some proof that something may have been rotten in New Britain.

A cracked tote isn't anything to get bothered over, provided it's tight and glueable. The 'horn' of the tote is often sheared off on many of the bench planes. When the tote is gripped, its horn should extend about an inch beyond web of skin between your thumb and forefinger. Many of the horns are repaired with nails, screws, glue, or scarfs. Look them over carefully. Totes are also prone to cracking near their bases, just above where they extend forward to meet the main casting.

The totes on these larger planes sit over a raised tote receiver into which the screw and threaded rod are screwed. This is as good a place as any to mention that Stanley loved to use non-standard threads, and it's nowhere more apparant than the hardware used to attach the wood to the main casting. There are reproduction totes out there, and some of them are quite good. A reproduction tote isn't so much a concern on a common plane that's to be used, but it is a concern on the collectible examples of the series, like the 1 , 2 , and 2C.

During the 's, Stanley applied a brightly colored decal on the left side of the totes on many of their planes. Generally, the presence of this decal increases the value of the tool as it's indicative of the tool's condition since the decals wore off rather quickly and easily from use. Some of the reproduction totes are available with decals, which themselves are reproductions. You should be very careful when buying a collectible plane that has a decal on the tote unless you're sure you can recognize the reproduction.

The background of the original decal is an aquamarine color whereas the reproduction's background color is a darker blue green. Plus, the reproduction decal has a 'thicker', almost silk screened, appearance to it. Sometimes, you'll find a plane with a hard rubber tote with "B of E" embossed on each side. These were sold by Stanley to school systems as replacement totes for the poor planes that suffered the onslaught of destruction as wrought by the punks of yesteryear.

These replacement totes were offered during the 's's, when they were replaced with aluminum totes during the early 's. The knob can suffer chipping or cracking about its base. This is most commonly found on the earlier planes, with their squatty, mushroom-shaped knobs. The damage is caused during the plane's use, when the plane is pushed at the knob; the knob leans forward, putting stress at its leading portion, making it split. Many folks found the low knobs difficult to grip, especially on the shorter planes.

A taller knob, called the "high knob" in the tool collecting circus, was offered starting ca. This knob, being taller than the low knob and thus having the force on it applied higher up from its base, suffered the same chipping at its base, but only more so than the low knob.

Good idea, Stanley, but you didn't quite get it right. Some 10 years later, the solution to knob chipping was discovered - a raised ring was cast into the bottom casting to receive the knob. This solution really did work, and knob chipping became but a distant memory. If you're into originality, there is a minor, but important, detail about the high knobs - the later high knob is turned so that its base tapers slightly to fit into the raised ring, while the first high knob is turned so that its base doesn't diminish where it seats onto the main casting. The degree of the sole's flatness is a personal preference frankly, I think the current notion of perfect flatness on a bench plane is simply hype , but definitely stay away from those that are badly twisted along their length.

You may need to file nicks out of the plane's sole, if they project - these will leave scratches on the wood, which defeats the plane's purpose. The bottom casting not the sole proper, but its leading and trailing edges should be slightly convex at its toe and heel. I've seen some planes, especially jack planes, that have had their toe and heel ground off so that they are squared across the width of the plane. You'll also stumble across many bench planes that have a hole drilled through their bottom castings. This was done so that the plane could be hung from a hook when not in use.

This 'feature' does nothing to the plane's use, but it does kill it as a collectible, especially on the scarcer planes. Similar holes can be found along the sides of the planes so that they could accept one of the many fences ones that can be adjusted to bevel an edge that were offered over the years.

The Stanley bench planes are equipped with irons that are very thin when compared with the thick irons used on the older wooden planes. Leonard Bailey was the first to use these thin irons prior to Stanley purchasing his patents. Stanley made it a point to mention the iron's thinness in their marketing propaganda by claiming that: While these irons are high quality, they are also often too thick for the plane to accept them without having to file the mouth wider, and that's something you should think long and hard about as it's a modification that can potentially affect the value of the tool in the long term.

Re: Stanley plane dating

Make sure there is enough meat on the iron and if it is pitted, your best bet is to toss it. You'll probably find some amount of corrosion on the face of the iron where the cap iron makes contact. This corrosion is often black in color and can be lapped out quickly. The corrosion occurs from the plane sitting idle where moisture is trapped between the two irons.

Inspect the iron, even on its backside, for any cracks. The Stanley irons do crack due to their thinness, but it is not a common occurrence. I've also seen an iron de-laminate; look them over around the bevel for this flaw Stanley did equip their bench planes with laminated irons up to about WWII - click here to see the company's propaganda for laminated irons. Make sure the cap iron fits tightly against the iron; you'll have to re-grind it if it doesn't. Strangely, you'll stumble across irons and cap irons that have mushroomed ends, like the kind you see invariably on wooden planes.

Stanley planes that show this 'handiwork' must have belonged to transitional woodworkers, where the line between master carpenter and ham-fisted hack was but a mere hammer away. Why anyone would smack the heel of the iron on this kind of plane is lost on me. If your plane has this feature, a file will make short order of it.

Rarely, and I do mean rarely, you might find an bench plane with a strange iron in it. It looks as if someone screwed a razor blade onto the cutting edge of the normal iron. If you see this, sell the iron to a collector, and find yourself a replacement. What you have is another one of Stanley's boneheaded ideas - "Ready Edge Blades.

Whenever the plane's cutter dulled, he could pull out a new one and screw it onto the holder. A few chips on the lever cap along its edge of contact with the cap iron are nothing to fear. These chips are from a previous owner using the flat end of the lever cap as a screwdriver to loosen the cap iron screw prior to the sharpening of the iron. This flaw lessens the value of a plane to a collector, but does nothing to hinder the plane's use provided the chips are not severe enough to prevent sufficient clamping pressure on the iron.

The lever cap underwent a subtle design change in the hole through which the lever cap screw passes. The first hole is symetrical and shaped like a key hole. During the early 's, the hole was redesigned and patented so that is has a kidney shape design. This change was done to address the supposed problem with the lever cap backing upward, off the lever cap screw, as the iron was drawn back while turning the adjusting screw. The planes had been made some 70 years, and used successfully for that same time, without the kidney-shaped hole so it seems that Stanley made the design change as a gimmick to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack.

Look for stress cracks or outright chips about the lever cap's screw hole. This flaw can diminish the plane's utility since the lever cap is apt to loosen during use. It's best to pass examples with this problem, unless you can salvage it for parts. Test the brass depth adjustment nut to see if it turns freely - a lot of times these are seized. If the knurling on the nut appears stripped or the nut is mis-shaped not a circle , it's a good indication that someone took drastic measures, like the use of vise-grips, to free it.

Chips in the bottom casting are sometimes found where the sides meet the toe or heel of the plane. These, too, have no harmful affect on the use of the plane, but they do lessen its value to a collector. Also, these chips are rather jagged so you may want to file them smooth lest they rip your hands to shreads during use. Check the depth adjustment fork, which is held captive in the frog. It resembles a wishbone, with each side terminating with a round shape to the casting.

Each side engages the circular groove in the brass depth adjustment nut. Sometimes, one of the sides of the fork breaks off, making the fork bind when it's adjusted. These forks are cast iron, but starting around the early's they became a cheesy two-piece steel construction.

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You might think it strange that the cast iron fork can break, but break they do, usually as a result of too little pressure from the lever cap on the iron, which then results in the iron being thrust backward during planing, putting an extreme amount of force directly on the fork, ultimately snapping it. Stanley, in their instructions for using the planes, specifically addresses just how tight the lever caps should be - "If the Cam [of the lever cap] will not snap in place easily, slightly loosen the Lever Cap Screw.

Some modern day tool authors, sure in their scholarly advice, recommend taking a pair of pliers and squeezing the 'tines' of the adjusting fork toward each other to take out some of the slop in the mechanism. You'll snap the thing as sure as that plaid shirt and toolbelt wearing guy will use a bisquick joinah. If the fork is broken, you can pilfer one from a dogmeat bench plane by knocking out the pin that allows the fork to pivot. The pin normally pops out when driven from left to right as viewed from the rear of the frog.

There were many modifications made to the bench planes over their production. These are outlined in the type study, but the major design change, that of the frog and the way it seats on the bottom casting, is mentioned here in greater detail. There are four major frog and corresponding receiver of the main casting designs found on the Bailey bench planes.

Sure, there were some experiments gone awry and a few minor modifications, but the descriptions of the four that follow are those that were in the longest production. The first design resembles the letter "H" when viewed from the front or rear of the plane. The frog is machined to sit on the sides, or rails, of this machined area of the main casting.

The frog is screwed to the cross 'beam' that spans the rails. This design was the one Leonard Bailey finally settled upon prior to Stanley purchasing his patents. Stanley continued this solid design for just a few years until ca. The second major design dispensed with the experimental frog ca. This design is simply a broad and flat rectangular area that is machined on the bottom casting.

This machined area is rather low, and has two holes that receive the screws which are used to secure the frog in place. Likewise, the bottom of the frog is machined flat to fit onto the bottom casting. This method of securing the frog was sound and it worked well, but the amount of machining, after the parts were cast, certainly made production more costly and slow, and they eventually cast two grooves into the main casting's frog receiver ca.

Still, this construction was too costly. Thus, Stanley needed to modify the design if they were to become "The Toolbox of the World. The third design made its debut in , and was again patented by Stanley. This re-design of the frog likely was an attempt of Stanley's to keep the competition at bay, since their original design's patents had expired just 5 years earlier. Under the new design, the frog receiver on the bottom casting is made up of a cross rib, a center rib, and two large screw bosses that flank each side of the center rib.

The leading edge of the frog itself has a support directly behind the mouth to offer a solid base as a measure to reduce chattering. The rear of the frog rests on the cross rib, across its full width.